Crippled
by ShandyCandy278
Summary: This isn't your run-of-the-mill Blind/Deaf AU. Oh no, this is a very... different AU. Rated T because I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

Okay.

This was it.

His only chance at making this work.

He made sure to sneak down slowly- gently rolling his wheelchair over to the door. He had set up everything the day before- the only thing to do now was put his plan into action.

Nathalie was in the bathroom (which he had locked, leaving a note of apology by the bottom of the door for her to read), his father was out of the house for once, and the Gorilla was out and about to help the Chef buy more Ingredients.

Adrien pulled the hood of his black hoodie up and over his face, turning around to double-check if his backpack was there. It was.

With a firm nod, Adrien managed to maneuver around opening the door and rolling down the handicap ramp that was by the stairs. (Don't ask him why his father decided to go through such extreme lengths when his case was hopefully only temporary.) Then he speedily wheeled himself to the gate, entering the date of his parent's wedding into the key to unlock it.

The second he was completely out, he took a small moment to soak in this feeling of accomplishment.

 _He was going to school._

A grin broke out across his face, and instantly he wheeled himself down the streets of Paris. He had to fish his phone out after realizing that he had run into the same park three times, but he soon found himself approaching the school his childhood friend, Chloe, went to.

Just as he was about to go up, however, someone fell to the ground not that far away from him. Adrien pushed himself over there, putting the breaks down on his wheels so that he could help the older man up with both of his arms.

"Here you go, M." Adrien said as he reached down and managed to pick up the old man's cane. The elder accepted it with a nod and a kind smile.

"Why thank you, young man." He blinked, looking behind Adrien. "But I think that they're here for you."

The blonde froze, slowly turning around only to see what he had feared. A very frazzled Nathalie and Bodyguard stood in between him and school.

 _When had they even gotten there?_

Adrien sighed and hung his head in defeat, but still smiled up at the elder man.

"I'm just glad that I can help." He said as he turned to return to his house.

"I can see that." The old man smiled a knowing, secretive smile. Then he slung his cane over his shoulder and whistled happily while he walked away.

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This was one of the many times that Adrien felt really, and truly, useless. The fact that he was confined in his room was a testament of this uselessness.

He felt even more useless when that stone-super-villain stormed by his house, only growing bigger the more damage that was done to it.

But that was when he saw it.

A strange, octagonal box with red Chinese-Mandala designs decorating the exterior. It sat innocently on his table, like it had always been there. Adrien knew that he owned nothing that was even remotely similar to the box, and so he reached over and gently opened it. A flash of green light shot out of it, and Adrien jerked back. He lifted an arm up to his face, shielding his eyes.

When he looked over at where the light had been, after it had vanished, he gasped.

"No way, like the Genie and the Lamp!" He breathed in awe at the small, Chibi-looking black cat.

"So I met him once, grants wishes, I'm way cooler!" The being boasted. "The name's Plagg, nice to meet you!" Adrien moved to speak, but the being stopped him again. "Now do you have anything to eat? I'm starving~!"

"Wha- no, wait, come back!" Adrien lunged as far as he could to try and grab at Plagg, but the being swiftly evaded his reach.

"Oooo~ can you eat this?" It asked. Adrien huffed and rolled himself over to the creature, the said being's ears twitching at the sound.

"No, that's foosball table." Adrien explained calmly, folding his arms stubbornly once he was there.

"..." Plagg stared at him for a few moments before slowly landing on Adrien's lap. "I'm pretty sure you humans aren't supposed to look like this. What happened- did you not eat enough cheese?"

"What? Oh." Adrien blinked, looking down at his wheelchair before he began to laugh awkwardly. "About a month or so ago, my mother and I got into a car crash. A really bad one. I was left partially paralyzed from the waist down, and mother…" He trailed off and shook his head. "I'm tutored, which isn't really anything new, but I also go to therapy. We're trying all sorts of things that will hopefully get me walking again, but until that happens, I'm stuck in here."

"I see…" Plagg nodded. "Well cream cheese, I can't play with you~! That's no fun!" He pouted.

"Hey, I'm still fit!" Adrien exclaimed defensively. "And you need to tell me about you now." Plagg rolled his eyes.

"Okay, chill." He scoffed. "You humans- you don't even know the difference between good and bad cheese anymore." Adrien blinked. "You're gonna want to sit back, cause there's going to be a lot of information. And I mean a LOT."

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After transforming for the first time, Adrien discovered a major problem.

As Plagg had said, the suit did not Miraculously give him the ability to walk. (He almost wished that Plagg WAS a genie instead of a Kwami, but swiftly brushed the thought off.) He was still very much paralyzed from the waist down, and still stuck in a wheelchair.

He needed to help his partner, but he had no way of doing it.

Well, he did, but he wasn't even sure if it was going to work.

"Okay." He breathed, tightening the belts he had placed around him and his wheelchair. These would keep him strapped in, right? "Okay. Here goes nothing."

And then he leapt out of the window, thankfully not breaking the thing in the process. He landed in an alley not far from his house, and pulled out his staff.

Plagg had said that he could use this to call his partner. He might as well use it.

He pressed the call button, and instantly it went to video feed.

"Oh!" The cute girl on the other side of the screen gasped. Her blue-bell eyes were wide in shock and some form of insecurity. Black-highlighted-blue hair framed the front of her face in the form of bangs, and the rest of the longer parts of her hair was collected into two ponytails. "Why hello! Are you the partner my kwami told me about?"

"Ah, yes!" He grinned. "I'm… Chat. Chat Noir. And you?"

"Oh, I'm Ma- er- Ma- oomph!" The device she was holding jerked, taking her out of his view for a moment before she popped back in with an awkward laugh. "Madly clumsy. I'm SO clumsy."

"It's ok, clumsy girl." He chuckled when he saw her blush. "I'm learning the ropes too. In fact… there's a reason why I'm calling you and not meeting you in person." Her eyebrows drew together in concern and confusion, along with curiosity.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I'm, uh… not in any position to fight. At all." He hung his head a bit. "I'll still be around to help you if the situation need be, but I'm not going to be any help outside of my Cataclysm."

"Why's that?" She asked. Chat Noir bit his lip.

"Because I'm… recovering." He decided on. He didn't want his partner to think that he was some pathetic paralyzed victim. "From a pretty bad injury. Stuck in a wheelchair for now." He grinned sheepishly as her face morphed into one of shock.

"Oh my gosh! Should you even be out? What if you accidentally make it worse? What if-"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me." He smiled at her reassuringly. "I just wanted you to know that you wouldn't be alone. I'll be wheeling along behind you, staying out of danger but able to help if needed, okay? You won't ever have to do any fight alone. Cat's honor." He winked at her, and she laughed.

"Why, you are a silly kitty, aren't you?"

"That I am."

"I'm gonna start heading to the arena now- that's where Stone Heart marched off to. Think you can keep up, Chaton?"

"Why of course, Madly Clumsy." He winked and she groaned. "I'll see you later."

"See ya." She waved with a nerve-wracked smile before hanging up. Instantly Chat Noir looked up a map, and began to wheel his way through the streets of Paris.

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' _Where is she?!'_ Chat Noir thought, panicked. ' _She should have been here by now!'_

He watched as the girl from his first day of class- Alya, was it?- get trapped behind a car. He himself was frozen, torn between revealing to Hawkmoth that he was crippled, or leaving Alya alone.

Marinette, the one who was pretty mad at him that he REALLY wanted to be friends with, watched it all go down in terror. The Stone Heart Clones were stomping away, seemingly done with whatever the task was that they had been sent there to do.

Before he could say anything, or even move to wheel himself out of there, Marinette began fishing through Alya's bag (the said girl still pretty stuck under the car and not noticing that her friend was there either). Then she pulled out a box, opened it, and placed some earrings in her ears.

His jaw dropped when a pink flash protruded from the box.

"I knew that you'd come around!" The high and squeaky voice was only barely caught by his cat-like hearing.

' _Please,'_ He thought. ' _I didn't actually-'_

"I-I'm still not sure about being this Ladybug," Marinette admitted. "But I can't just stand here and do nothing."

' _I did. I totally just discovered her identity on the second day of the job.'_

"That's the spirit!" The being that could only be a Kwami chirped. "You know what to say!"

"Right." Marinette nodded. "Tikki, Spots on!"

He watched Ladybug save Alya and tell her to go and run somewhere safe, all while Adrien was still wrapping his head around the information.

The first thing he definitely felt was shock, followed by happiness, more shock, panic, defeat, determination, and guilt.

But the very first thing that he actually did, was call her.

"Oh, uh, Hi Chat!" She greeted awkwardly after she picked up. "I can't exactly talk right now- we need to take down Stoneheart and actually purify the Akuma this time. I kinda need my yo-yo."

"I know, but I want to be able to communicate openly with you throughout the fight." He insisted. "It's the least that I can do."

' _I am sooo in debt to her.'_ He internally groaned to himself. ' _And when am I going to tell her? How?! She doesn't like me as Adrien right now!'_

"Do you think that these things have communicators on them? You know, like the ones from the spy movies?"

"Probably." Chat Noir fiddled with his staff before finally finding the said ear-devices in the bottom of his staff. "Found them!"

"I found mine too. Let's see if this works." Ladybug hung up on him, and only seconds after he had placed the devices in his ear, he heard Ladybug speak.

"Chat Noir?"

"Purresent!" He replied with a cheeky grin.

"Oh, so we've stooped down to cat puns now?"

"Stooped down?" He asked with a laugh as he began to maneuver his way through the streets of Paris, with a bit of help from his staff. "I think you mean stepped it up to cat puns. They're the best thing to have ever happened to humankind. They're the literal cat's meow~!"

He could faintly hear her snickering, and his grin grew even wider.

"Alright, I'm at the Eiffel Tower." She stated. "Or at least by it."

"This is the Police!" Chat Noir could hear from around her vaguely. "Stand down and move aside!"

"But you don't-"

"You've already failed once! We've come up with a new plan that will work! Let the adults do their job!" The Policeman continued to shout faintly through the hearing devices. Dread dropped in his stomach, almost making him stop.

Was this why?

"They're right." He heard her whisper brokenly to herself. "I failed the first time."

Yup. This was why.

"No! Ladybug-" He determinedly turned the corner, almost at the Eiffel Tower. His eyes were narrowed, and he didn't even think about the words tumbling out of his mouth. "Don't listen to them! Just because you made a mistake doesn't mean that you can't try again! You're working to right your wrongs, and no one can stop you from doing that. No one."

"... Thanks, Chat." Ladybug finally whispered. "It means a lot to me."

His heart did something weird in his chest.

"N-No problem." He managed to get out. He turned on the final corner, looking up ahead and at the Eiffel Tower, where his partner was. "Now, let's- wait, what is that?!"


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you again, Marinette, for helping me." He smiled sheepishly up at her, and she smiled down at him.

"O-Of course!" She stuttered cutely. "I-I know th-that doing this everyday m-must tire your arms out- N-N-Not that you aren't strong! You're re-really strong! But, um-"

"I get it." Adrien chuckled, and she giggled awkwardly from behind him. "And yes, my arms do tend to get sore after a while."

' _But not while I'm in suit, of course.'_ He wanted to say. ' _Perks of being a ameowsing superhero. Isn't that right, Milady?'_

But he couldn't.

She still had no idea.

And he didn't want her to.

"H-Here we go!" She said cheerfully. "My Parent's bakery!"

Adrien blinked, looking over to his right before looking back at the building before him. He did this a few more times before looking back at her, a little confused.

"How are you almost always late to class when your house is literally across the street from it?"

"Um, Th-That's a topic for another time!" Marinette exclaimed, her cheeks red in embarrassment. She awkwardly moved around his wheelchair to open up the door. Some woman who was walking out right then noticed and smiled.

"Here, let me help you." She said, helping Adrien move his wheelchair inside.

"Uh, Thank you, Madame."

"You're welcome." She responded with a smile before walking out. Before Adrien could even push himself, Marinette was behind him and pushing his wheelchair towards the counter.

"Maman!" She called just as her mother finished up an order. "I-I'm here with Adrien to practice fo-for the tournament. I-I called ahead, remember?" An almost begging look was in her eyes as the elder turned to look at them.

"Oh, of course! Your father and I did our best to set everything up, and we're not sure how well it will work yet." She turned around to call into the kitchen. "Tom?! How's the ramp going?!"

"Almost done!" A voice called back as Adrien's jaw dropped. He could faintly hear Marinette giggling behind him- probably at the silly look on his face.

"You-You didn't have to." He said when he found his voice again.

"Oh, but we wanted to." Marinette's mother smiled down at him sweetly. "It's the least that we could do."

"Th-Thank you, Madame." He bowed his head a bit out of politeness, and the elder laughed.

"Please, call me Sabine, dear." When he nodded, she gestured to behind her. "Why don't you go ahead and go on back, Marinette? Your father will be able to help you."

"Sure thing, Maman!" Marinette pushed him forward, and he had to turn around to see the swift hug they gave each other.

"You two have fun!" She called over her shoulder as they began to move again.

"You guys didn't have to." He said as they moved to the back, where a staircase was. Well, it didn't look like a staircase at the moment- there were a whole bunch of skinny wooden planks that fit the width of the stairs to the T.

"W-Well, we wouldn't exactly ha-have much use for it a-anyway." Marinette shrugged. "After we cleared up the whole gum-incident, I-I started thinking about potential things that we could do as daaaay-to-day activities!" It had almost sounded like she was going to say something else, but before he could ask her, she continued.

"A-And then I realized that a-a lot of them would be hard to-to accomplish, considering everything. So, I-I thought to myself 'what could I do to make things more convenient for him?', and after talking some things out with Maman and Papa, we decided that ramps would definitely be best. It's not like we can put ramps over all of the stairs in Paris, though, so we settled with just our house."

"Still, you didn't have to." He protested softly, looking her in the eye. "It's not even guaranteed that I'll come over that often, or that I'll be unable to walk for the rest of my life."

"Exactly." At his confused look, she continued on softly. "Adrien, you must have all sorts of questions about the future in mind. Everything is so uncertain, and it's not even four months after the incident yet." Adrien winced, and Marinette gave him an apologetic smile. "We figured that we'd at least try to relieve you from some of the thoughts swirling around your head. If it helps- the boards are easily removable and can be donated to families who need them when the time comes."

Tears were practically at the corner of his eyes, and he managed out a thank you and a smile before turning to look at his hands.

How had she- how had they known?

Just- How?

"Alright, it's all set up, son." The endearment instantly had him looking up as the large man that was Marinette's father came to the bottom of the ramp. "You ready?"

Adrien could only nod.

"In that case, I'll-"

"Maybe I should push him up, Marinette." He father said in a teasing tone. "I mean, knowing how clumsy you are, you'll somehow end up running him into the wall!"

"P-Papa!" Marinette gasped, scandalized. Adrien couldn't stop the snickers that came out, but they were thankfully hidden by her father's thunderous laugh.

"You know I'm only joking, sweetie." He said. "Still- I think it would be better for everyone if I pushed him up." Marinette mumbled something that Adrien couldn't quite hear, and her father laughed.

Adrien found himself being rolled over to the bottom of the ramp, and her father leaned down so that Adrien could hear his whisper.

"You ready, Adrien?"

"Ready." He nodded. The stairs, now that he had a proper look at them, were pretty steep. No wonder her father didn't want Marinette to push him. One wrong move, and-

He didn't want to think about it.

Her father began to push him up the ramp, and Adrien subconsciously tightened his grip on his arm rests. It was a very short trip in hindsight, but the actual journey felt like it took ages before they made it to the top. It took a bit of repositioning, but soon Adrien and his wheelchair were successfully wheeled up the ramp and into the living room.

"Thank you, Monsieur." He said while turning his chair around to face the elder man. Marinette's father laughed, and there was a peculiar twinkle in his eye.

"Please, call me Tom." Adrien's smile grew as the smile on Tom's face grew. That was when Marinette finally popped into view, giving her father a hug.

"Thank you so much, Papa!" She said, looking up at him. Tom laughed and gently ruffled the top of his daughter's head.

"You're welcome, Marinette. Sabine and I will be down in the store if you kids need anything."

"Alright, Papa!"

"See you later, Tom." Adrien called as he waved goodbye. Tom waved goodbye back at them before gently shutting the door. After a few moments of silence, Marinette and Adrien turned to look at each other.

"Soooo…" Marinette drawled, pushing her index fingers against each other. "Ultimate Mecha Strike?"

"Ultimate Mecha Strike." Adrien agreed.

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"I'm Jealous." Chat Noir stated plainly as the fight continued on. His arms were folded, an outright pout on his face as his tail twitched behind him in irritation.

"Now is not the time!"

"You get to do all of the fun stuff!" He groaned. "Why can't I heal faster?!"

"Okay Kitty-" He watched as his lady side stepped to the left and then gave the akuma a nasty undercut. "What happened to get you in this dump?"

"Everything." He supplied.

"That doesn't help me help you, Chat." She kicked the akuma in the stomach, pushing the foe back several feet.

"I know, I know." He sighed. "I went to the doctor to go to physical therapy for my injury today."

"And?"

"It feels like we're hardly making any progress!" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "We've been doing the same exercises for the past six months now, and it feels like nothing has changed! They keep on saying that I'm improving, but if I can't move them by myself then it's not exactly improvement!"

"Sounds like you need to be punching this Akuma instead of me." Ladybug quipped, and Chat Noir scoffed.

"I wish."

"You want me to throw him into the ground a few times before releasing his akuma for you?"

"Yes please."

"Consider it done."

...

Let's just say that Hawkmoth was starting to dread the final battle, even if it meant getting the Miraculous.

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"...Hey, Chat?"

"Yes, Milady?"

"Are you bothered by other things besides your injury?"

It was 'Patrol' for them (AKA- Ladybug did all the fun stuff while Chat Noir made sure to stay out of sight of the windows in his bedroom to talk to her), and Chat Noir had to do a double take.

"Yes," He admitted. "Why do you ask? Am I meowing too much?"

"No, you silly cat." He could practically see her rolling her eyes, and the sound of her yo-yo zipping through the air by his ear only increased his yearning to be there beside her. "Of course you have the right to complain. Sure, there might be people out there who have it worse, and you should be grateful- but this is what's happening to you right now. It's just…" She trailed off.

"Just?" He probed softly.

"Aren't you bothered at the fact that, outside of the two of us, no one knows that you even exist?"

"What do you mean?"

"I-" She took a small breath. "One of my friends really likes Ladybug, and she's super into finding out her identity-"

' _She's talking about Alya.'_ His mind supplied him, filling in the blanks that she didn't know he was filling.

"-And she was sharing some of her findings with me."

"So? I don't see what the big deal is."

"Well…" Ladybug sighed. "I was going to ask her what she thought of your identity, but… then I realized that I couldn't, because no one knows that you're there."

"It's not a big deal." He admitted. "I hardly do anything outside of placing down a well-timed Cataclysm. You're the one doing all of the work- you should get the glory."

"But it IS a big deal, Chaton!" She stressed. "It's a big deal to me! You've been helping as much as you possibly could, warned me about I-don't-know how many attacks aimed at my back, pointed out Akuma's weaknesses, lifted my spirits, and have made me feel better about myself." Her voice grew soft and quiet as she spoke, and he found that he was almost at a loss for words.

"Without you… without you, there would be no Ladybug."

He gasped at the confession- some emotion that he had been suppressing for months now making his heart in his chest flutter wildly.

"That's why it's such a big deal to me, Chat." She continued. "You've made such a big impact on my life, and the fact that no one seems to notice bothers me. You can't tell me that it doesn't bother you."

"I…" Chat Noir swallowed nervously. "I admit, now that you've brought it up… it's pawsitively bug-ging me." A cheeky, but shaking grin stretched across his face, and she groaned at the double-whammy of puns. "But not as much as you are by it. You see… life at home isn't so sweet for me. Mother… passed in the same accident I got my injury in, and father wants me to be perfect.

"Nothing that I do gets noticed by him unless I do something drastic, and even then he usually responds negatively. You could even say that I'm used to not being noticed, even though the irony in that statement is so thick I can't even begin to describe to you how ironic it is." He laughed lightly.

"Oh, Chat…"

"And I know that this information probably bothers you too, but there's not exactly a lot that either of us can do about it."

"I guess…"

"So chin up, okay?" He smiled lovingly, wishing that he could be out there with her and placing his hand on her shoulder. "Don't be down because I should be. Be happy and have fun, Ladybug. Enjoy doing what I can't do for me, okay?"

"Okay."

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"Dude!" The second he arrived at school, Nino was taking over as his chaperone and pushing him up some ramps on the side of the school. "Please tell me that you've seen Alya's latest Blog!"

"Huh? He blinked. "You mean the one featuring her almost being smashed by the Mime, right?"

"No, Dude! The one she posted after that! I thought you stayed updated 24/7!"

"I was tired and went to bed early." Adrien laughed awkwardly, looking down at his legs.

' _More like trying to survive the panic attack Marinette put me through.'_ He thought. ' _What if she had actually been smashed under that?! Surely Miraculous Magic can't stop something that big and heavy from hurting her in some way!'_

"Well, Mari was somehow able to set up an interview between Alya and Ladybug as an apology for stealing her phone-"

"She stole her phone?" Adrien asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, Mari can be quite the pocket thief when she wants to be." Adrien took a moment to let that information soak in. "But you won't believe the information that the interview gave us! She actually avoided answering some of the questions that might've hit a little too close to home, but that last one- oh man, it's so good I want you to watch it instead of me telling you!"

"Ahhh… okay?"

"Now."

"But Class is going to-"

"Just pull out your phone! We can skip to the end, that's where all of the juicy stuff is. About Two minutes before the end should do, so Eight minutes in…?"

Adrien didn't hesitate to do as Nino had asked, skipping ahead until there were only two minutes left.

" _So, Ladybug, last question-" Ladybug perked up expectantly. "Being the only superhero in Paris has to be very taxing. Secret identities, missing class, etc. Just how do you do it? And if you don't want to or can't answer that, Is there anyone out there that you can say that, if it weren't for them, you wouldn't be sitting here today?"_

 _The super heroine smiled knowingly, a mischievous and VERY smug glint in her eyes._

" _The only superhero in Paris?" She asked, almost sounding like she was clarifying what Alya had said rather than pointing out a mistake._

" _You mean to say that there's more?!" Alya gasped. Ladybug laughed._

" _There is one person whom, without him, I wouldn't even be Ladybug. He's very important to me, and while he can't presently fight in battles, he's always been there for me since we first fought Stone Heart. He's a superhero, my partner and one of my closest friends. And, because I can see you so clearly dying to know his name-" Ladybug winked at the camera. "I'll tell you. His name is Chat Noir."_

 _Chat Noir._

 _His name is Chat Noir._

Her voice and the words she spoke echoed around in his head, even as he locked the phone while Nino wheeled him into the Elevator.

"It's sick, right?" Nino asked as he pressed a button for the second floor. "There are two superheroes in Paris! Two! And we didn't know about any of it until now?! This Chat Noir HAS to be one of the sneakiest heroes ever! I called Alya last night, and she said that everything just made so much more sense now because it shows Ladybug talking to someone in some of her blogs, who was clearly not the Akuma. It's got to be Chat Noir that she's talking to! It HAS to be!"

"Yeah…" He replied, dazed. "That's… really cool of her to do that. To give credit to someone no one had even known about."

"Exactly!" They reached the upper level, and Nino rolled him out. Adrien took over from there, wheeling himself towards the classroom. "Marinette doesn't seem to think that it was all that special of Ladybug to do that from what Alya told me. Apparently, Marinette thinks that it's only natural to be sure that credit is given where it's due. Which is honestly really sweet of her, because I know for a fact that there are a lot of people who don't do that sort of thing. Of course, there's one exception in Marinette's book from what I've seen."

"And what's that?" Adrien asked, looking up at Nino as the other walked ahead to open the door wider for him so that he could wheel himself into class.

"To make them happy." Nino replied as though it was the most obvious thing. "Like, say she made a gift for someone. She placed it in the pile, but then some things happened and someone who didn't get a gift for the someone took credit for the gift she had made. While normally she'd claim proper credit, let's say the person who forgot the gift was really important to the person who's getting gifts. Like- it would mean the world to the someone if the person had gotten them a gift. Marinette wouldn't say anything about it."

"Really?" Adrien asked as they settled themselves at their desk in the front row. "Not even if it was important to her?"

"Not even then, dude." Nino shrugged. "Not like it would ever happen- Mari signs all of her work, remember?"

"Yeah, I remember." He let out a light laugh. "How anyone could ever take credit for her work, I have no idea. It would be pretty hard to not spot it at some point."

From within his backpack, he could've sworn that he heard Plagg snicker.


	3. Chapter 3

"Alright, Adrien." His Doctor smiled at him, almost eagerly as Adrien was wheeled into his office. "Today we're going to try something new."

"New?" The blonde asked, tilting his head. The Doctor nodded, and his smile grew.

"Today, we're going to have you stand. Without all of the machines."

Adrien's jaw dropped.

"A-Are you sure? This isn't a prank, is it?"

"Not at all, my boy." The Doctor tapped the clipboard he was holding. "Your progress has been, admittedly, slower than we'd like. But you've gotten a good amount off feeling back in your legs, and we've been working with you on this for almost a year now. I'm not saying you're gonna be able to walk yet, much less on your own, but this is amazing progress!" The Doctor smiled supportively. "Now come on, Adrien. I know you can do this."

Adrien swallowed nervously, and he glanced up at Nathalie. She gave him a slight smile and a nod- the most he was going to get out of her for support. He turned to look back down at his legs, which were simply sitting there.

 _Could he really?_

Adrien bit his lip, and his hands shook a bit as he reached down and moved his feet off of the footrests. Then he braced his hands against the armrests. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm his legs before pushing himself up.

He wobbled for a moment, and the doctor placed a steadying hand on his back.

"Yes, that's it!" He praised, slowly removing his hand after Adrien balanced himself out. "Good, good! Spectacular!"

Adrien looked down, and he couldn't help but notice how much further the floor was from him since he last remembered. His legs were shaking a bit, his arms outstretched in case he were to fall.

"I-I'm standing." He breathed.

Something sparked inside of him, and a grin grew on his face.

"I'm standing."

The words were some form of triumph- some immaculate feeling of joy and accomplishment. He looked up to meet the doctor's eyes, and he couldn't help but laugh.

" _I'm standing!"_

"Yes, you are!" The Doctor agreed joyously.

"Can-" Adrien swallowed. "Can I try to walk?"

"I don't know if we're quite there yet-"

"I don't care." Adrien shook his head. "I just want to try."

"...Alright, if you insist." The Doctor moved to stand in front of him, offering him his hands. Adrien took them without hesitation, looking down at his legs.

' _I know you can move.'_ He thought. ' _Prove it to me.'_

"I'd suggest starting with your right." The Doctor directed. "Just a baby step." Adrien nodded and took a deep breath. He lifted up his right leg, but that's when his left leg decided to buckle on him.

Adrien fell partially to his knees, the doctor managing to catch him before he hit the floor.

"Well," The Doctor gave Adrien a cheery smile as he helped the blonde back into his wheelchair. "That's something good that we can work with."

"Yeah." Adrien agreed with a nod.

' _I'm almost there.'_ He thought giddily. ' _I'm almost to walking. When I walk I can run, when I run I can jump, when I jump I can swing, and when I swing I can fight. That's when I can finally, properly, join Ladybug on the field. No longer will Chat Noir be just a voice- I'll be a person to her.'_

He glanced down at the pocket that Plagg was sleeping in.

' _Baby steps.'_ He reminded himself. ' _Baby steps.'_

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The first thing he did was call his Lady.

"Good evening, Chat Noir!" She greeted. "We don't necessarily have patrol today, is there a reason why you called?"

"I can stand."

"... what?"

"I can stand, Ladybug!" He exclaimed. "I can stand up on my own two feet!"

Her jaw dropped.

"I know!" He exclaimed, and his grin was so wide his cheeks were starting to hurt. "And it's not exactly walking yet- but I'm close! I'm so close, Bugaboo! Soon, I'll be able to go out there and patrol with you, and maybe even fight crime with you!"

"Oh my gosh, Chaton, this- this is amazing! You can stand?!"

"Yes!"

"We have to celebrate this somehow!"

"Not yet." Her smile faltered.

"Why not~?" She asked.

"Because we can't exactly celebrate it when I can't walk." He laughed a bit. "Don't worry, bugaboo. We'll celebrate eventually- just when I can finally walk."

"When you can walk." Ladybug breathed, and his smile grew. "But how long is that going to take?"

"I'm not sure." He admitted, glancing down at his legs before looking back up at her. "But I'm determined to accomplish it as fast as possible. Just you wait, milady- one day I'm going to be able to walk right up to you, and when I do I'll tell you the best pun I've ever made!"

"Oh?" Ladybug asked, raising an eyebrow. "And what's that?"

"Well, you'll have to wait and see." He chuckled, winking at her. "And I thought that I was the cat in this partnership." Ladybug barked out a laugh, and the warmth inside his chest grew.

How he had been so lucky as to befriend a girl like Marinette, he never knew.

But something began whispering at his mind- things that he didn't want to aknowledge yet. Feelings and doubts, mostly- but there were several other things, too.

He'd handle them all later, though. After he could walk and finally meet her as Chat Noir- face-to-face.

With those thoughts in his head, he bid Marinette good night and went to sleep.

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He had been out on a stroll after a particularly long Photoshoot (the Gorilla was driving behind him as a precaution. Adrien was just glad his father had let up that much) when he heard the sound of scuffling in a nearby alley. He rolled closer, looking around the corner to try and see what was going on. It was a scuffle of sorts, but when he caught sight of some familiar hair he knew he couldn't just sit around and do nothing.

Swiftly he rolled over to the ally that was both parallel and connected to the other one, making sure to be hidden from his bodyguard before transforming. Then he used his staff to launch himself onto the rooftops (the belts were officially apart of his suit now), and then over to the rooftops behind where she was. She wasn't pushed up against the wall yet, and there was just enough room for him to sneak behind her, even with his wheelchair. He just needed th Aim it right…

He landed behind her with a small thud, and almost instantly he used his staff to pull her into his lap.

"Close your eyes." He whispered into her ear, and she gasped a little.

"Chat?"

"And no matter what, don't. Open. Them." He continued, pretending not to hear her.

"Who do you think ya are?" One of the men asked. Chat Noir spun his staff around a bit with a small smirk, his eyes glowing in the dark of the Alley.

"Your worst Nightmare."

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The situation was taken care of with general ease- he had to be careful to not jostle her around, which proved to be more difficult than he had thought, but he still managed to knock all of them out without hurting her.

"Are you okay?" He asked quietly, placing his staff behind him.

"Y-Yeah." She replied, almost breathlessly. "I'm fine."

"You shouldn't scare me like that." He muttered softly, wrapping his arms around her and letting his head rest on her back. "Please don't get yourself into trouble again. I might not be able to sneak away next time."

"Okay."

"I need to go." He said regretfully. He slowly removed his arms and helped her stand, making sure that she was steady before fully letting her go. "Keep your eyes closed and count to ten, and then you can open them, Okay?"

"Okay." He extended his staff to launch himself up and into the air, but then he froze.

He reached forward and grabbed her hand, gently placing a kiss on the back of it.

"Good day. Stay safe." And then he carefully launched himself into the air. He then lowered himself back into the Alley he had disappeared into, and then (looking out for the Gorilla all the while) rolled out of there and back onto the sidewalk. He rolled back to the sidewalk in front of the Alley that she was in, pretending to be casual about looking in to see what she was doing.

She was looking up at the rooftops, her hand held up to her chest almost in awe. The bodies of the unconscious men were hard to see now that he didn't have night vision.

"Marinette?" He called, and she jumped, turning around to look at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I, ah, Thought I saw a Cat! Yeah!" She giggled awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "But it was just a shadow."

"I see." He smiled at her kind me. "Do you want to walk around with me? I'm trying to find my bodyguard- I think I accidentally lost him."

"Sure!" She enthusiastically walked over to him, a bit more at ease now. "D-Do you want me to push you?"

"Nah, my arms aren't tired." He shrugged indifferently. "I think he went this way."

After an hour or so of searching for the car, and regretfully explaining to Marinette that he had left his phone in the car (like he usually did when he wasn't supposed to be gone for long), Marinette told him that she knew where he lived and could walk him home.

His arms had grown tired at this point, so Marinette had taken to pushing him around. They were just talking now, laughing at things that had happened and sharing stories. He had even managed to crack a few puns, which she had laughed at. (aHA! He knew that she found his puns funny!)

At long last, they had arrived at the Mansion. They stopped by the gates, staring up at the foreboding building.

"Well…" He looked behind him and smiled at her. "Thank you for helping me, Marinette."

"Problem no- I mean, it's no problem!" She beamed down at him. "I, uh, guess I'll see you again Monday."

"Yeah." He nodded. "I'll see you Monday."


	4. Chapter 4

Words could not describe the emotions he felt right now.

Okay- maybe jealousy, irritation, uselessness, and a sense of being threatened were all a part of it, but it wasn't like he was about to admit that.

"Ladybug." He said, managing to stop himself from growling before he spoke. "Who is that?"

"Oh, um… What do you want your superhero name to be?"

"Rena Rouge." He heard the other superhero reply faintly through the earpiece.

"Rena Rouge is her name." Ladybug supplied in case he hadn't heard.

"I see." He muttered lowly.

"Is everything okay, Chaton?" She asked as he hit one of the Sapotis a little too hard.

 _"Fine."_ He bit out sourly, a bit sarcastic. "Just fine."

"No, It's not. I can tell that it's not fine. Talk to me."

"Can I talk to him?" He heard Rena ask.

"That's up to him."

"Sure, if she wants to."

"Chat Noir, what is wrong? Is it about your…"

"No, not that." He growled. "I'll talk to you about it later."

"Hello?" He heard a new voice speak into his ear. "Can you guys hear me?"

"Loud-" He knocked a Sapotis away from him with his staff. "And-" He grunted as they tried to pull his wheelchair away from him. _"Clear!"_ He shoved them off and launched himself onto the roof.

"Omygosh." Rena squealed. "I'm talking to Chat Noir!"

"A- uh, Rena, focus!" Ladybug ordered. "Chat Noir, do you need help?"

"I think I'm _fiiiii~"_ He yelped as a Sapotis grabbed at his wheelchair. He slammed his staff against it, making it poof into nothing. "Okay, maybe I need _some_ help. These stupid Sapotis won't leave me alone and it's not like It's easy for me to get away from them myself." He wheeled away as fast as he could, carefully using his staff to travel towards the next rooftop. "I almost feel like they're targeting _me_ specifically."

"Do you need a lift?"

"Why would he need a lift?" He heard Rena ask.

"Unfortunately, yes." He grunted as they grabbed onto his staff, having to swing it around so that they could launch off. "I'm probably gonna have to leave it behind. I'm really not gonna be much help this time." His tone turned sour at the end of his sentence, scowling as he wheeled on.

"Good thing you replaced me." He muttered angrily under his breath, soft enough that neither of them could hear.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Milady." He replied instantly. "Just cursing Hawkmoth. Like normal. And my stupid legs."

"Don't blame yourself, Chaton." He could hear her yo-yo whizz close by to his location, and he began to work on undoing the belts. "Even if you _were_ able to help properly, I'd still need Rena to help us."

That made him feel a little better.

Only a little.

"Alright." He used his staff to help him stand up, and then to push his wheelchair into the Sapotis that were trying to get to him. "I'm ready whenever you ar- _ow!_ " A few (more like six) Sapotis tackled him to the ground. It was crowded- too crowded for his liking. It was getting harder to breathe. He struggled against them, although his legs remained as useless as always. They eventually pinned down his arms, and began to pry his ring off-

 _Smack!_

It was like a massive weight had been lifted off of his shoulders, allowing him to breathe in the fresh air of relief. He rolled onto his back, taking a few calming breaths. Then there was his Lady above him, offering him his staff.

Just seeing her like this, face to face in real life, for the first time seemed to soothe his jealousy down. She cared enough that she would come to him to help him, and that meant that she wasn't really planning on replacing him any time soon.

"Come on, kitty." She said. "I have a plan."

"Oh?" He took his staff and the hand offered to him, allowing her to help him back up to his feet. He swayed a moment, leaning on her heavily before giving her a smile. "I can't wait to hear it."

"I'm sorry that we couldn't wait until you could walk before we met face to face." She slung his arm over her shoulder, and he scoffed lightly.

"I don't recall saying that you couldn't ever come to _see_ me." He said flirtatiously. "Just that the celebrating would have to wait." She giggled, whirring her yoyo around to knock out the Sapotis.

"So what's this plan you mentioned?" Rena asked, using her flute like a baseball bat to take care of the last of them.

"Let's get to higher ground first." Ladybug replied smartly, looking around the scene with her expert eye. "It's a bit hard to really protect us all at the moment. Chat Noir-"

"I can hold on." He interrupted. "Can't do anything about my legs. Sorry."

"Don't you apologize." She scolded.

"But why-"

"Not now, Rena." Ladybug looped her yoyo around a chimney and swung them off. "We need to defeat this Akuma quickly." The other hero seemed irritated with the lack of answers, and Chat Noir smirked in amusement.

Maybe he wasn't jealous anymore, but he was still a very possessive cat.

Then he frowned.

Why was he being possessive anyway? It wasn't like-

His heart thudded, and his eyes widened in realization.

 _Oh._

That's what that was.

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Today… wasn't a good day.

It really, _really_ wasn't a good day.

First, he had stayed up all night contemplating his revelation about his feelings for his closest friend (stop saying you called it, Plagg!), then they had a surprise test in Geography, and now this.

Adrien had no time to think as he threw on a hoodie despite the warm weather, throwing the hood up and hiding his wheelchair in the clothes hanging on the clothes rack. He stood up, although shakily, and used the clothes racks to turn himself around and pretend to look through clothes.

A whole mob of fans burst into the store, looking for any wheelchairs or blonde-haired boys. He literally held his breath as they passed him, letting it go in a soft sigh only when they didn't see his wheelchair hiding by his legs.

Hiding from fans had gotten SO much easier now that he could stand. Only his friends, Nathalie, his bodyguard, and Gabriel knew that he could actually stand up on his own. It was kept secret from the public until Adrien would be able to actually get away from his fans without the use of a wheelchair.

"You know, it would be more convincing if you weren't so tense."

Adrien jumped, losing his balance as his legs buckled beneath him. Arms caught him before he could hit the floor, along with the clothes rack.

"Are you okay?" He looked over to his right, where Marinette had magically appeared out of seemingly nowhere. She smiled at him kindly, helping him get back on his shaky feet.

"Marinette!" He exclaimed, a grin growing on his face. "You scared me!"

"S-Sorry." She giggled. "Alya and I were shopping for some clothes for her date with Nino when we saw you roll in. Alya's working on a way to get them all out of the store, it should start any second now-"

" _OMYGOSH GUYS, ADRIEN AGRESTE WAS SPOTTED AT THE PARK!"_

Squealing fangirls and boys proclaiming their love and adoration for Adrien rushed out of the store. Three of the workers rushed to the window as well, trying to catch sight of him. Marinette slung his arm around her shoulder. "Do you think you can shuffle with me a little so that we can pull your wheelchair out?"

"Y-Yeah." Adrien gripped onto the rack tightly, lifting himself up a little so that they could shuffle a bit. Marinette used her foot to gently guide his chair out.

"I got you, Adrien," Alya spoke from his left, and suddenly he was being helped by two girls to move. After they pulled the wheelchair out, they helped him sit back down in it. He pulled the hoodie off with a sigh of relief.

"Here, I'll put that back for you." Alya gently took the fabric away from him and walked off. Why she did that, he didn't know- he had gotten the sweatshirt from this rack right here.

"Hey, Adrien?"

"Yeah?" He asked, looking up at her. He could tell that there was something suspicious in the look in her eyes- something off.

"... Nothing." She finally said, hesitantly reaching over to touch his hair. "It's just… with this hairstyle, you look _really_ similar to a friend of mine."

Adrien froze and attempted to look at his hair, raising a hand to it. "Uhh… what does it look like?"

"Umm…" Marinette pulled out her phone and opened the camera option, showing it to Adrien. He looked at it for only a second before ultimate panic set in.

 _He looked like his alter ego!_

 _What if she recognized him?!_

"Oh, uh, wow." Adrien laughed awkwardly, handing her phone back to her as he hurriedly fixed up his hair. "I didn't expect that. My hair to be that messy, I mean. It-It's _never_ like that."

' _Except when you wake up in the morning.'_ He thought sourly. ' _Go you.'_

"I d-didn't either, but it actually looks good on really you! I mean, really good on you!"

"My father would kill me if he saw me like that." He admitted, smiling up at her sheepishly. "Thanks for the compliment, though."

"N-No problem!"

"Alright, everything's taken care of." Alya brushed her hands off as she walked back over. "Do you have anywhere that you need to be?"

"W-Well…" Adrien laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his head. "I actually snuck out. I'm trying to make it to the movie theater."

"Oh, Marinette can help you!" Alya cheered. "She's the expert with all kinds of disguises and outfits- I'm sure she can do something!"

"I'm not sure if we'd have the time," Adrien admitted sadly. "It's supposed to start in ten minutes."

"Oh, you'll make it there in time." Marinette slammed her fist into the palm of her hand, snapping her fingers. "Or my name isn't Marinette Dupain-Cheng!"

Adrien blinked up at her as she stood there determinedly, just like she normally did as her alter ego. It was rare to see this side of her in her civilian form, and it made his heart flutter.

"Watch out," Alya whispered to him. "Or you might be a dead man walking."

Oh, he was well aware of how _dead_ he would be.

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So, maybe he wasn't _that_ aware.

But how was he supposed to know that his bodyguard was going to be akumatized?

And now he and his Lady were trapped, and his wheelchair was quite literally nowhere to be seen.

 _Ode to joy._

But then, Ladybug had asked him to do the impossible after Gorizilla opened his hand.

"Adrien, jump!"

 _Jump?_

 _He couldn't even walk!_

Adrien bit his lip.

"Trust me! I won't let you fall!"

He swallowed nervously. She knew that he was crippled, what was she doing?!

But then he saw a chance.

Maybe he couldn't jump, but he could roll.

So he rolled out of the way, just missing the edge of the roof. His body began to gain speed as gravity forced him lower and lower to the ground, determined to make him a flat sandwich.

"Kid, what are you waiting for?!" Plagg exclaimed. "You _need_ to transform!"

"Not _now_ , Plagg, everyone's watching! Besides, I trust Ladybug! She'd never let me fall!"

"Do you want to die?!" Before Adrien could respond, a whirring noise sounded by his ear. Next, strong arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him up and towards a familiar figure.

"I got you, Chat."

Adrien tensed.

 _Had he actually heard that right?_

No.

No, there was no way that she could have ever figured it out. There were several people like him- maybe she was just testing him to see if her suspicions were correct.

And when had she ever decided to try to figure him out?! They had agreed on keeping their identities secret, and it wasn't like she knew that he knew her identity!

"Did you say something?" He asked, slowly turning to look her in the eye as they carefully descended. Ladybug shook her head.

"No, not really."

' _You're lying.'_ He thought. ' _You won't look me in the eye.'_

"Um, thank you for saving me." He continued. He could barely feel his feet touching the ground, and he had to lean heavily on her for support. "That was really scary for a while there."

"You're not used to it." Ladybug replied, supporting him with ease. "Of course it's gonna be scary."

 _You're not used to it._

The words tingled at the edge of his mind, echoing around lightly. It almost sounded like there was supposed to be something around the end of the sentence, but she hadn't said it.

Like a word that could change the meaning of the whole sentence.

 _A word like yet._

And that was what he was afraid of.

Had this whole experience been enough of a hint? When had he given himself away? Was it his hair?

 _He was so dead._

But he couldn't think of it any longer- Gorizilla had just landed, and Ladybug was lifting him up and away again.

She kept on calling Chat, trying to get his input on the situation. It was a breath of fresh air for him- so she hadn't completely decided he was Chat Noir. Just suspicious. He could handle suspicion.

But then he was left alone, Ladybug kept on talking about needing Chat's Cataclysm on the floor. Ladybug had to go and grab his wheelchair, leaving him sitting on the ground.

He had no choice.

"Plagg… Claws Out."

He used his staff to help him stand up, his legs shaking all the while. He attempted to take a step forward, assuming that his hero form would be stronger.

 _It wasn't._

He barely caught himself before he fell to the ground, leaning heavily on his staff. He slowly straightened himself, growling in frustration.

Ladybug needed a Cataclysm. And she was going to get one, otherwise, he wasn't Chat Noir.

He grit his teeth and split his staff in two. He wasn't cleared to use crutches yet, but it was better than nothing. He managed to get a good grip on them and properly support himself just as that one fan ran around the corner.

Wayhem, was his name, right?

The brunette stared at him in utter awe- observing his crippled state in shock. Chat Noir leaned heavily against one of his staffs, pointing the other at him with deadly seriousness.

"If you tell a _single soul,_ or make a scene of _any sort_ about this, you _will_ regret it."

He didn't care if he sounded threatening- there was too much at stake to say it kindly. Wayhem nodded mutely.

"Where is-"

"Adrien?" Chat Noir asked. "Safe. Unharmed. I made sure of that."

"So you're really-"

" _Don't_ finish that sentence." Wayhem instantly shut his mouth, and Chat Noir swung himself towards the edge of the Alley. His legs buckled beneath him instantly, leaving him staggering as he tried to regain balance. Hands grabbed at him, helping him to regain the said balance. He looked up to see Wayhem there, a determined look on his face.

"What can I help you with?" He asked. Chat Noir pondered over Ladybug's plan, looking over at the subway station. Then he looked at the cardboard cut-out Wayhem had dropped on the ground, along with a helmet that he had hidden behind the trash bins.

"I need you to pretend to be Adrien Agreste." Chat Noir looked up at him. "You think you can do that?"

"Oh, definitely."

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It was a big amount of trouble to walk over to the subway. He was glad the area had been evacuated thanks to the Akuma- he didn't want people to see him like this.

"Remember, lead Gorizilla over here." He whispered to Wayhem. "Then I can Cataclysm this thing to help Ladybug catch the Akuma. It should be right around the corner."

"Alright." Wayhem, behind the helmet and Adrien mask, nodded vigorously. Then he rushed off.

And now Ladybug was calling him. He pressed the earbud into his ear.

"Why hello, Milady." He said softly. "I'm sorry I'm late, I was a bit tied up."

"Chat!" Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness!"

"I found a way to lure Gorizilla out here- it's being taken care of right now."

"Wait- _what?"_

"Grabbing Adrien's wheelchair would take too long." Chat Noir pointed out. "Besides, what are the chances of Hawkmoth knowing that Adrien Agreste is crippled? Only his biggest fans and close friends and family would. Gabriel likes to keep the information under wraps, you know."

The word crippled sounded bitter on his mouth, but he had pushed through it.

"Chat Noir-"

"Ah, here he comes. Sorry Bugaboo, but I need you to come back so that you can purify the Akuma."

"What about you?"

"I'll figure it out as we go along."

"But Chat Noir, Hawkmoth could _see_ _you_!"

"It looks like I'm standing up normally, thanks to my staff. He won't suspect a thing." Chat Noir braced himself. "Here he comes."

He stood there as Wayhem ran past, Gorizilla coming to a stop as he spotted the hero in black Miraculous.

Hawkmoth hadn't seen him until then.

"What's wrong, Hawkmoth?" He let out a scoff that was full of false confidence, tilting his head cockily. "Does seeing a second superhero scare you? I thought it would take more than that. You're really not that much of a threat, are you?"

Instantly, the familiar butterfly Outline appeared over Gorizilla's face. The Akuma yelled, banging it's fists against its chest before charging at him. Chat Noir slowly lowered himself to the ground, closing his eyes as he imagined how Cataclysm would take its effect. Now, to summon it.

 _"Cataclysm."_

The power of destruction surged through his hand and into the ground just as the Akuma stepped right where he wanted him. Chat Noir struggled to get back on his feet as the Akuma fell through the cement. Just as he was standing again, Gorizilla looked directly at him. He could practically feel Hawkmoth observing him closely through the Akuma's eyes- looking for any reason why he hadn't come out before.

He was almost scared to move, considering that he'd see that his legs didn't work. But he had to get out of here before the press arrived.

He winked cheekily at Hawkmoth to hide his fear. "Oh, you are _definitely_ no match for the two of us." He boasted just before shooting himself up into the air and back into the Alley.

Only moments later, a loveliness of Ladybug's appeared to fix everything, and with a sigh of relief, he whispered just loud enough for Ladybug to hear.

"Good Job, Milady."


End file.
